Here in the thick of the NCAA tournament, it has been easy to see why NBA officials are a bit puzzled by this year’s draft—just as there have been no dominant teams, there really have been no dominant players, either. The draft remains wide open, and since it is Monday, we will delve a little deeper into how things are stacking up:

TALKING ABOUT … Doug McDermott, with Warriors forward and Ames High School teammate Harrison Barnes

For Creighton standout Doug McDermott, Sunday’s loss to Duke was not the way he’d like to have wrapped up his season. McDermott shot just 4-for-16 from the field, his worst shooting game of the season, though he finished with 21 points thanks to 12-for-12 shooting from the free-throw line. That doesn’t represent the kind of year McDermott had, in which he averaged 23.2 points on 54.8 percent shooting and 49.0 percent 3-point shooting.

Now, McDermott will have a big choice to consider—he can try his luck in the NBA draft or return to play for the Blue Jays for his senior year. Because he is a 6-8 tweener forward, scouts rank him as a fringe

first-round pick. We checked in with Golden State Warriors rookie Harrison Barnes, who played with McDermott at Ames High School in Iowa, to get his thoughts on his former teammate’s NBA prospects.

On how much Barnes has been able to follow McDermott’s season: “I have had a chance to talk to him a little bit. He has played exceptional basketball, and he is going to have a chance to decide whether he

wants to stay in school. He has really grown as a player and that has been a good thing to see. He is in a system that fits him perfect and so now, everyone can see what he can do. That’s been a great thing for him.”

On whether McDermott can play in the NBA despite not having a defined position: “Basketball is basketball. What position you are and all of that, I think it just works itself out. He is a guy who can play the game, and if you can play the game, I think you will find your spot. I don’t think he’d have any problems playing on this level. When you see how he shoots, he is really efficient and he can make shots from all over the floor. He can play at a high level.”

On how he and McDermott pushed each other in high school: “It was a fun team. We always got along, we were friends all throughout our high school years. A lot of us were, that is how we were as a team. But we always pushed each other. We would go in the weight room in the morning, but he also worked as hard on his shot as anyone. That is something you can see now.”

STOCK WATCH

Jeff Withey, C, Kansas. Scouts are pretty unanimous when it comes to Withey’s status as an NBA draft prospect—he is a game-changer around the rim, but he is so unskilled offensively that his defensive prowess might not matter much. Throw in the fact that he is a late-blooming senior, already 23 years old, and the feeling is that he is a finished product, the hoops equivalent of an all-field, no-hit shortstop. But with Kansas struggling for long stretches in its first two tournament games, Withey’s defensive impact has been all the more noticeable. He had seven blocks in the opener against Western Kentucky, and had five blocks against North Carolina. More important was the number of Tar Heels shots he altered at the rim, a key factor in forcing UNC into 30.1 percent shooting. In a draft packed with unknowns, Withey is, at least, a known commodity and that could be enough to get him a spot in the first round.

THREE THINGS WORTH KNOWING

On the opposite end of Withey’s opening-rounds success with Kansas has been the performance of Jayhawks freshman guard Ben McLemore, who responded to the big stage of the NCAA tournament by disappearing in his first game, going just 2-for-5 from the field for 11 points against Western Kentucky. In a game in which the Jayhawks were struggling offensively, McLemore should have taken more than five shots. That was the consensus, at least, until Kansas’ second game—he was brutal, shooting 0-for-9 from the field, and 0-for-6 from the 3-point line, scoring just two points. The concern about McLemore has long been his lack of aggressiveness and whether he is a guy who can take over a game. In light of recent performances, his shot at being the draft’s No. 1 pick has probably fallen by the wayside.

After putting on a strong push in the wake of the Rudy Gay trade—strong enough to open the possibility of a playoff spot—the Raptors have fallen off significantly, losing 11 of their last 14 games. This is good news for the Thunder, who own the Raptors’ pick (Houston acquired the pick in the Kyle Lowry trade, and moved it in the James Harden trade) and will now have a spot in the Top 10. The only way the Raptors keep the pick is if they get lucky in the lottery and move into the Top 3, but if they don’t, the Thunder will have a valuable trading chip heading into draft night.

There is little surprise about the report that UNLV freshman power forward Anthony Bennett will be entering this year’s draft. Bennett has enough versatility to play small forward in the NBA, and is a virtual lock to be a Top 10 pick, and if he measures well athletically in Chicago at the end of May, could break into the Top 5.